Summary: Inspired by posts made in the shrieking shack society page on facebook. This is a story set in the Marauder era. Sixth Year and Remus and Sirius are in a 'secret' relationship while James and Peter try to get them to admit it. WolfStar with a Jily Teaser at the end.
Disclaimer: The only thing here I own is the plot, the characters and this world do not belong to me. I am not making any money off of this; I am just having fun in JKR's world.
A/N – I would like to thank my beta, elemtee, I also ask that if you can, please leave a review; let me know how I can improve my writing.
Who's in the mood for love?!
"James, we have to do something." Peter complained. "They woke me up again last night."
"I know Pete, they woke me up as well." James said to Peter, "and I am supposedly the heavy sleeper." James continued in a whisper as one half of the 'they' walked into the great hall and sat down in across from Peter and James.
"G'morning." Sirius yawned at them.
"No, it isn't." Peter said in a snarky tone of voice.
"Pete, calm down." James said, while reaching for the fresh coffee that was a few seats down from him.
"No. His squeaking bed woke me up again." Peter complained before turning on Sirius to say, "Mate, learn a better silencing charm or go a night without an orgasm." Siruis' eyes go wide and he opens his mouth to try and deny and only stutters. James smirks at Sirius and hands Peter one of the cups of coffee he poured, knowing just how he takes it and what he needs to get him through the morning.
James opens his mouth to make a comment just as Remus sits down next to Sirius, not knowing what to say with Remus there James decides to shut his mouth. Sirius – really embarrassed and scared of what might happen if he spoke stays quiet. Noticing the silence – which was really odd for the guys, Remus looks up to see Sirius staring just beyond his plate. James had an amused, small smile on his face looking at Sirius. Peter looked like he just got a smack in the face to wake him up and was chugging the rest of the cup's contents – coffee, if he was smelling that correctly. Sirius, noticing Remus looking between the three of them got confused. Add to the fact that Remus was also the reason for the squeaking, Sirius was all of a sudden nervous, and a little aroused, thinking about last night. Face red, Sirius gets up and walks out of the great hall without a word.
"What did I miss?" Remus turned to James to ask.
"Peter made a remark about the lack of sleep he's been getting lately with the noise in our dorm." James said, watching Remus for a reaction. "It even woke me up last night." James continued. At that, he got the reaction from Remus – a twitch in the eyes that gave his fear.
"I didn't hear a thing."
"Of course, you didn't." Peter mumbled, though Remus still heard and had no problems hearing the sarcasm in it either. Remus looked a little embarrassed as he decided to take a bite of his lightly buttered toast, making a mental note to find Sirius and talk to him later. As the caffine kicked in Peter's appetite grew and he ate breakfast as Remus was deep in thought, not paying attention to what was going on around him, while eating his toast. Soon James was nudging both to get to class on time.
Later that day James and Peter were sitting in a corner of the common room while Sirius was working on an essay and Remus was in Arithmancy.
"We need to get them to admit to their feelings, or at least the sex." James said
"Ok, why can't we just ask them instead of trying to trick them?" Peter whined,
"What happens to wolves when they feel defensive and cornered?"
"They attack, and they don't care if it's painful." Peter said; rubbing his left elbow, a nervous habit he picked up recently.
"Right, so we have to try and be subtle, get them comfortable and catch them off guard."
"We're never going to pull this off if we have to be subtle." Peter, again, whined.
"What?! What is that supposed to mean?" James asked a little offended.
"You know what it means! It means neither of us is good at being subtle. Don't look at me like that, you know I'm right. I am the worst, but you can be pretty bad too, mate."
"Oh, come on! We can do it. By the end of this week, if I get them to admit it, you owe me a galleon."
"Fine, but if I can you owe me 2."
"What?! Why? That's not fair."
"We know that I am the least subtle of us, therefore if I succeed it would be even more impressive."
"Fine, Deal." James and Peter shook hands firmly. Immediately after, just as Peter was getting up to talk to Sirius, Remus walked in and Sirius got up and walked out. Remus' eyes immediately squinted in confusion towards Sirius' retreating form. Almost a little too long before Remus realized that James and Peter were in the room as well, Peter was frowning towards Sirius' form as well. James waved Remus over with a genuine smile. With Peter's frown, Remus just assumed that they had a bit of a tiff, Remus wasn't concerned, and he would be seeing Sirius later tonight. The thought of his meetings with Sirius put a wistful smile on Remus' face. Seeing the smile James thought he would try to get Remus to crack.
"What colour are Sirius' eyes?"
"Why?" Peter asked suspiciously.
"Idea for a prank, need to know his eye colour."
"What prank?"
"Evans had a mood ring." James said, looking for a stall. Remus looked very confused, waiting for James to expand on this idea. Peter was staring at him with a look that James interpreted as 'this is subtle?'
"What if we make a prank based on that?"
"And what does this have to do with Sirius' eyes?" Remus asked, getting suspicious now.
"Well… what …about… changing eye colour? We need to know his natural eye colour to start." James said, proud of himself for the, somewhat, quick thinking while having it believable.
"And it has to be Sirius because?" Peter said, loving that James was off his game for once.
"Well, who else to be the guinea pig?" While James was just getting irritated that Peter seemed to be more of a hindrance than a help at the moment.
"Why can't Evans be the guinea pig? We know her eye colour thanks to your dramatic declarations of love, you've described her vividly green eyes to excess."
"She wouldn't help us, and I'm not giving her something we haven't tested ourselves. You know the code." James was now forgetting that this was all a fictional prank at this point, he was getting really involved.
"So why not just ask Sirius to see his eye colour."
"Grey." Remus said, ignoring their banter back and forth, thinking about what it would be like to really see the emotions that Sirius feels. "His eyes are a piercing grey." The other two stopped and stared at Remus, noticing that he seemed distracted James took the opportunity to get back to the real task at hand.
"How did you know that?" Peter asked a little too eager for Remus' taste.
"I … I am observant." Remus said, getting up and grabbing his bag that he had set down earlier. "And I am going to go work on homework in the library."
James and Peter were still arguing about whether that plan would or would not have worked when Sirius came back downstairs 10 minutes later. He stared at them in confusion for another 5 before interrupting,
"What are you two arguing about?"
"Eye colour."
"Subtlety." They said at the same time.
"Wh-What? Nevermind. Where's Remus?" Sirius asked, hoping his face showed no pink and an air of nonchalance.
"Why?"
"Library." Peter glared at James for telling Sirius the truth right away. Sirius wasted no time in leaving the common room and going to find Remus, hoping that the other two wouldn't tag along. He wanted some alone time with Remus that wasn't hushed behind pulled curtains and a mediocre silencing charm. Meanwhile James was brainstorming with Peter about actually trying to implement the 'prank'. And maybe it wouldn't be used as a prank, but it would be interesting to see if it was possible.
When Sirius caught up to Remus in the library he couldn't help but watch him a bit before sitting down with him. It didn't last long as Sirius noticed when Remus' nose twitched, indicating that Sirius had noticed. Sirius made his way over after Remus invited him to the table.
"We need a stronger silencing charm." He whispered before even fully settled into the chair at the table.
"What happened?" Remus asked, looking up at Sirius, making sure to give this conversation his full attention.
"At breakfast" Sirius started "Before you showed up. Peter and James made mention that they heard something and it woke and kept them up."
"Did they say anything about what they heard or what they thought they heard?" Remus asked. He is hoping to help Sirius come to the realization that their friends wouldn't care if they came out.
"No. Just that there was a noise and it came from my bed."
"You know that they probably know something is going on between us right?"
"But it is never explicitly talked about."
"What does that matter? We don't explicitly talk about lycanthropy" Remus said, looking around to make sure no one was around as he spoke, in an even lower, hushed tone as before, just in case as he continued, "Doesn't mean I don't suffer from it." Sirius' response was even quieter and his gaze had drifted down to a knot in the wood of the table that sat between them. He took a minute to gaze at it before speaking,
"But as long as it isn't explicitly said or displayed there isn't 'proof." Sirius was speaking in a calculated tone that made Remus sad, as that tone meant he was thinking about his home life. Sirius still wasn't looking at Remus as he continued. "As long as it isn't 'out in the open' there is the doubt and uncertainty that they can cling to and use as an excuse to not abandon me." Remus just reached out for Sirius' hand.
"You know James and the Potters are not like the Blacks" He squeezed Sirius' hand, causing the boy to look up, away from the knotted wood and into Remus' eyes. "They took you in, have loved you like family. Why can't we just tell them?"
"You really want to tell them?" Sirius asked, with a hint of vulnerability.
"Not if you're not ready. I will never force you to do something you're not comfortable with." Remus said, taking Sirius' hand in his and giving it a squeeze before continuing. "But I really think they already suspect it, and I won't make you do it alone. I will be with you and it's not like I will abandon you." After a bit of a pause Sirius took a deep and stared at their hands.
"Ok. Let's do it." He looked up at Remus to see the most genuine and encouraging smile before continuing, "But not until after we come back from break, I will need to get everything from mom and, I mean from the Potters… Just in case." He finished with a whisper. Remus gave his hand another squeeze in support, knowing that there was nothing else he could say to really reassure Sirius that it would be ok. They held hands, on top of the table, in silence for a few minutes before Remus pulled his hand away and continued his essay writing, coincidentally just before James and Peter happened to walk into the library. James handed Peter a piece of parchment before settling down at the same table as Remus and Sirius.
"What are you guys working on?"
"Potions essay." Remus responded. While Sirius was quiet and still staring at the table, where his hand was still sitting, clearly not paying attention. James gently nudged Sirius with his shoulder, causing Sirius to jump slightly, moving his hand more towards his own body and give James a look of confusion.
"What are you working on, Sirius?" James asked again.
"Oh, uh…. Trying to find a stronger silencing charm of course." Sirius said, before getting up to go browse books and gather his thoughts, away from James and Remus. He walked past Peter, carrying a small pile of books back to the table.
"What are the two of you working on?" Remus asked, looking at the titles Peter had just dropped, not all too gently on the table.
"Seeing if the mood juice is even possible." James responded, pulling the first tome off the pile towards him.
"Mood juice?" Remus asked
"Well that's what we're calling it for now, think a potion would be easiest method… what do you think?" Peter asked, taking the chair beside James.
"Spell might be easier to use to actually get people with, potion – you have to now sneak into food or drink – and then you have to worry about hiding the taste and the effects that the food has on the potion."
"What about a combination then? Or is there a way to charm a potion?" James asked, pulling out the parchment he was using to make notes.
"That's something to ask Sirius – he's the better potion brewer."
"Speaking of…What is up with Sirius?" James asked Remus. "I mean, you guys have been here for 30 minutes and he is only now getting books for silencing charms? You guys get distracted in the stacks?" James asked with a smirk, watching for a reaction – he was going to win that bet!
"What makes you think it was me?" Remus asked with a light flush, going back to his potions essay.
"Please, who else would it be?" Peter asked, rhetorically. James gave Peter an elbow to the ribs to shut him up while Remus looked up between the two of them. Just as he was about to say something Sirius had come back from the stacks, effectively killing any retort Remus had and the conversation.
"What are you two working on?" He asked, still distracted enough not to notice the looks on his friends' faces.
"Charms." Peter pipped up with, a little louder than intended.
"Potential prank idea" James said, pulling his parchment and the text he was working out of closer to himself.
"Hmmph." Sirius said, opening his book, still distracted and unsure about the conversation he had with Remus earlier. The group fell silent as they each worked on their own projects.
The next night found Sirius was in detention for humming 'What's new pussycat' in Transfiguration and Remus had just walked in the common room to find Peter napping in the common room while James was sitting at one of the tables in the corner, doing what appeared to be homework. As he approached he noticed that there only seemed to be parchment, no books – so he was probably copying.
Remus was getting ready to scold him for copying someone else's (probably his, without his knowledge) essays for a class. That was until he looked down at the parchment and saw two headings of 'moods' and 'colours' along with 'potions' and 'charms'. He noticed some words crossed out, others with arrows and other markings beside them. Recognizing this as research for their weird prank, he just sits down to look over the notes.
"What is this really for?" Remus asked, causing James to look up and tilt his head to the side in confusion. "I mean… this isn't really your kind of prank, too subtle and not really humiliating. So what's really going on?"
"Well… uhh…" As James was trying to figure out how to explain 'It started out as a cover for scheming to get you to admit you and Sirius like each other and now I plan to use it in my bet with Peter.' Remus started to actually look over the notes and ended up getting distracted a thought,
"How are you guys going to be able to tell whether the spell is working? I mean some of the colours are some people's natural colours." James looked relieved at the change of topic and said,
"Hadn't really thought of that, what are you thinking, Moony?" Remus looked off to the side and gave a hum while he looked at the list of colours and emotions he had listed on a separate parchment than the one he was already looking at.
"Well do you plan to do different shades of the colours depending on the intensity of the emotion?" Remus now pulled a quill from his bag and started adding notes onto the parchment, "Like with joy, if one is just content with they be a light shade of... let's say orange? And then will extreme happiness be a deep orange."
"I think that depends on the method of delivery. My research says a potion might be better for a bigger range and accuracy of the emotions to be detected, but that would be harder to get someone to unknowingly digest. Whereas a spell would be easier, though less accurate so it would just be the more basic ones. I asked Lily about her mood ring and how it works. She gave me a brief description and other than colour ideas the method just wouldn't work. It's not even accurate by muggle standards."
"I am still skeptical on what you are doing with this, but intrigued as to the amount of effort you are putting into this… You talked to Lily without asking her out and it ending in you getting hexed?!"
"She didn't even call me a toe-rag." James said, proudly. Remus chuckled then asked,
"So what emotions are you wanting to detect/project."
"I was thinking only 6 or so: anger, joy, sadness, disgust, fear and I want to try and see if I can make it detect love or adoration."
"Oh… love huh?" Remus looked up at James with a look of understanding. "This isn't a prank this is a scheme for Lily." Remus put the parchment down and leaned back in his chair, "I don't know if I can continue to help you in good conscious if this is just another scheme to try and get Lily…"
"Lily?! I mean… yes, Lily! This is all to get Lily." James said. Remus noticed the tone in which James first said 'Lily' and it didn't sound all that confident… not at all like his other attempts to woo the witch, and again he wasn't sure how this would work in James' favour. Remus sat and stared at James, trying to figure out what was really going on and what his next plan should be. Finally, Remus decided to help James as this way he can rein him in before it gets too elaborate and embarrassing.
"So… what colours are you thinking? And what about the natural eye colours?"
"I don't know… I am open to ideas." James said just as Sirius came in from detention and slamming the portrait, waking up Peter and making James jump before hastily trying to gather all the parchment, making Remus suspicious once again on what exactly is going on. Before he could ask Sirius came up and sat down at the table grumbling about McGonagall and then surprisingly enough about the library being closed.
"What did you need from the library, pads?" Peter asked, also joining them, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and giving his body a stretch before taking the last empty spot at the table, beside Remus, across from James.
"Silencing charm." Sirius mumbled with a blush and quick, unsubtle, glance in Remus' direction.
"OH!" Remus exclaimed and then pulled out of his bag a book and passed it to Sirius with a blush as well, "I was in the library earlier and checked out this book for you, thought it might be helpful." Peter, seeing an opening, thought he could try an attempt at winning his 2 galleons.
"Who do you keep buggering anyways?"
"Oh…" Sirius looked up from the book, "You know me, wormy… no one special." and briefly smiled at Remus in 'thank you' for the book and reassurance that he didn't mean that last bit.
"Well they have to be special in some way… otherwise we would have gotten a name. Maybe you're ashamed of them." Peter said, causing Remus to now question if he was all that special to him. James noticing that look of self-doubt in Moony gave Peter a quick and a shake of his head.
"Ow." He glared at James before continuing, "I mean, if it is even the same person, she doesn't even come say 'hi' at meals, no goo-goo eyes across the hall… maybe it's a slytherin." Peter said with a mischievous smirk. Now Sirius growled lowly at Peter in warning.
"Peter, don't aggravate Sirius." James said, gathering all his papers and standing up. "I am going up to bed. Thanks for your help earlier, Remus." As James moved up the stairs Sirius turned to Remus and asked,
"What was he working on? You help him with herbology? When is that due, again?"
"I helped him with some research he's doing for a scheme to try and get Lily, though I am not sure what exactly the plan is…" He said watching as James walked away with narrowed eyes. Something didn't sit right.
"Herbology is due in two days." Peter responded before he, too, decided to go up to the dorms. "Make sure to use the strong silencing spell tonight." He said just as he left the two at the table, alone.
When Remus was sure that Peter was out of ear shot he turned to Sirius and said,
"Maybe we shouldn't do anything until one of us can master the spell. It's on page 54."
"You're right." Sirius said, opening his book to the page Remus mentioned. "Any chance you can help me with herbology tomorrow?"
"I have rounds with Lily, but I should be free after. I also need to keep an eye on James. I promised Lily I would try to rein James in for her, but I don't know what he's up to and that worries me…"
"I'll try talking to him and offer to help. Though he has seemed distracted lately. You should get some sleep, I'll be up in a bit." Sirius said, looking around quickly before giving Remus a quick peck on the cheek.
The next day at breakfast Peter was much happier as there was no squeaking beds or low growls that were almost like a hum or a purr. He and James were once again alone at breakfast, when he turned to James.
"What about jealousy?"
"What are you going on about?" James asked
"What if we get a girl to flirt with Sirius, make Remus jealous and territorial… make them admit their feelings that way?"
"How do you propose we do that?"
"Tell a girl that Sirius has been eyeing her and convince her to make a move when Remus is around to witness."
"Who did you have in mind?" James asked.
"What about Mackinnon?" Peter asked after looking around at the students that were eating around them, looking for a good candidate
"I don't like doing that." James said, "I think we should tell her the truth otherwise we are setting her up to get shot down – publicly. She isn't one to forget that little bit. She would come after us and she can be vicious."
"What girl would willingly set herself up for public humiliation like that?" Peter asked. Now it was James' turn to look around the great hall at the students.
"What about Pandora? As long as we are upfront and tell her our plan, she might go along with it."
"She's certainly loony enough…" Peter said, turning towards her and eyeing her critically before turning back to James and said,
"I don't know that it would be believable for her to go after Padfoot though. I mean she isn't really his type…"
"… and if it's not believable not only will we not make Moony jealous but we might make them suspicious and put their guard up." James thought Pandora would be the best bet, but wasn't sure how to get the result they wanted. "What about we make Sirius jealous instead? Have her go after Moony. I am going to go talk to her" James was about to get up and talk to her when he saw Sirius and Remus enter the Hall and decided it better to do it later, as not to raise suspicion.
Breakfast was fairly uneventful, neither James nor Peter making attempts at outing them, though Sirius did ask about James' newest plan to try and woo 'the lady Evans'.
"It's more of a prank idea that might be able to be used on Lily, but still needs some tweaking." Before they could go further into detail Remus announced that it was time to head to class.
It was just before lunch when James was able to sneakily go talk to Pandora and explain the plan and ask for her help.
"I can do it." She said with a small smile, "But not in the great hall during a meal. I don't want to ruin my chances with Xeno, we have something budding."
"Well… I guess it doesn't have to be in public, like that… just make sure to do it in front of Sirius, and be flirty."
"What about the library?"
"Tonight? After Remus' rounds, he has the early shift, right after supper tonight."
"Ok."
"Thank you!" James said with relief and gave her a hug, "I should probably get back to my friends now. If there is anything you want as a payment for your help, let me know." James said quickly before running off towards the hall to grab a quick bite and avoid suspicion. In class James updated Peter and at supper he told the others the plan of working together in the library that night. He was relieved when it didn't take much to convince Sirius and Remus to join him.
Later in the library the group was working on their homework, Remus was helping Sirius with his herbology, as promised when a shadow came across their table they all looked up to find Pandora staring at them. James immediately looked down to cover his smirk of anticipation while Peter put on a suspiciously neutral mask. Remus looked at the two with narrowed, suspicious eyes as Sirius asked her what they could help her with.
"I wanted to borrow Remus for a minute if I could." She said, effectively ignoring all others and staring at him, waiting for a response.
"Uhh…. Sure?" Remus gave another glance at James and Peter before getting up and following Pandora just a couple tables away where Sirius watched and strained his ears to hear what was being said. A frown appeared on his face when he noticed that she put her hand on his forearm – a classic move Sirius was no stranger to himself and that frown deepened when he heard the name "Hogsmade". He didn't want to watch as Remus would blush and stammer out a reply so he turned back to his homework. He heard the unmistakable sound of a kiss and his head shot up to see Pandora pulling away from Remus' face, turned slightly meaning it was only a kiss on the cheek. She had her hands still on his arms, gave a light squeeze before walking away with a wink towards their table. 'What the hell is going on?' Sirius wondered as Remus returned to his seat beside Sirius.
"What was that about?" Sirius asked, trying to sound curious and not at all jealous.
"She… asked me to Hogsmade?" Remus said, not even sure himself what was going on.
"What did you say?" James asked, looking up from his homework that he was so focused on, not 5 minutes ago.
"Well I was caught off guard, didn't really say anything and then she continued saying that if I wanted we could start out as just friends." At that Sirius broke the quill he was holding in his hand and Peter gave a little gasp. Remus continued with his story, being sure to avoid Sirius' gaze. "I told her that I would love to be friends and that before inviting her along with us I would have to check with you guys. She just smiled and kissed my cheek after that." Remus finished still slightly dazed and confused. He knew Pandora, he worked with her during astronomy in the past. He had spoken to her, been friendly with her. Well enough to know that she wasn't seriously interested and someone, and he suspected who, had set this up.
"Well I don't mind if she joins." Peter said, breaking the tension that seemed to have built up.
"I'm sure" Remus replied, looking between Peter and James with narrowed eyes. Both had guilty looks on their faces and turned back to their homework. Sirius was the only one not to speak up, or move. He still had the broken quill clutched in his hand when Remus put his hand over top and said, "Doesn't matter the moon is this weekend. I won't be going at all anyways." Everyone went quiet. James and Peter realizing that, once again their efforts failed, focused on their homework and Sirius was focusing on the comfort brought by Remus beside him, calmed down and quietly fixed the quill before he, too, went back to herbology for the night.
Over the next two days James was getting frustrated and was starting to feel desperate regarding the bet between him and Peter. Neither of their efforts have seemed to have any effect, in fact he was sure that Remus was starting to suspect what was going on, which made him all the more desperate to get the 'mood juice' (the name stuck despite no longer being a potion) to work. It was still his plan B but he still didn't have a way to ensure that the spell would work without impeding the person's sight. He was becoming so desperate that he actively sought out Remus for help in the library.
"What about a magical aura around the eyes?" Remus offered "A light haze, like an exaggerated glamour charm around the eyes."
"That would be great, shouldn't affect their vision, shouldn't be too noticeable but it would ensure that you are able to accurately identify that it's working if the eyes aren't changing."
"Though I think blue and green eyes will be issues, you might want to try different colours. How is the rest going?"
James and Remus continued to work on tweaking what James had so far, getting it so it didn't affect the eye sight of the 'prankee'. James thought about the blue and green dilemma but was more interested in tweaking it for 'love' as that was the one that James needed to work for 'Plan B', he could worry about the rest later. As they were working James noticed that Remus' eyes were hazel and he would be a perfect candidate to see if what they had was working so far. James asked Remus to be a guinea pig, since Peter wasn't there and he wanted to be sure that the progress they have made was going in the right direction. It took some convincing, but Remus agreed as long as James would supply the chocolate for his recovery after the moon this weekend – the good stuff too.
The emotion component worked but it turns out it just made them see in the colour, so it started out Remus saw everything with a green tint that quickly turned blue – the initial fear and uncertainty at what was going to happen which quickly turned sadness at realizing it didn't work, James cancelled the charm after that. They kept working before Remus realized they had to get back before curfew. On the way back to the dorm room they again ran into Pandora. Remus used this opportunity to explain that while she was welcome to join in future Hogsmade visits in the future, this one was not an option as he wouldn't be going and he left quickly after, excusing himself as tired before she could ask anymore questions or try and kiss him again. Just as Remus was running away Pandora smiled after him in amusement before telling James that she meant to tell him that she required no payment for the help she provided. She was a romantic and was happy to try and help.
"I am sorry that it didn't seem to work though."
"Not your fault it didn't work." James said, waiving off her apology.
"Well if you need me again I don't mind. It was kind of fun." Pandora continued.
"I doubt we will, our scheming doesn't seem to be working and there is no point in dragging you further into it." James said, feeling very appreciative of how Pandora has handled the situation, "As a thank you for your help though, please let me buy you a drink at Three Broomsticks next time." Pandora smiled and agreed before they left back to their respective common rooms, it was just passed curfew after all.
It was the night before the full moon, the last real opportunity for either James or Peter to get them to admit their feelings. They were working in the common room tonight as it was one of the rare times that it was relatively empty and, therefore, quiet in the common room, the four marauders in a table in the corner, doing their homework. James was still having issues concentrating on just his homework. He kept also thinking about the 'prank' and the bet. In a moment of complete frustration James grumbles to himself,
"Are you fucking serious?!" Not yelling loud enough to get others outside of their homework table to look but loud enough for everyone to hear and understand him. So, when Remus responded with a 'yes' with almost no hesitation to it and at a low tone that made James think that Remus always said it when someone said that phrase. Then it hit him what he had said yes to. His eyes went wide with a look of relief; he looked over to see the same look on Peter's face. Sirius, right away looked at Remus with fear, and a little betrayal. Then Sirius looked over, between James and Peter, with fearful eyes while trying to determine if he was the only one to have heard it. Remus took a minute to register that he had, in fact, spoken out loud, and in front of whom. Immediately Remus froze, he didn't look up from his parchment, but he also stopped writing. He felt everyone staring and could smell the fear coming off of Sirius in waves. He looked up to see Sirius' look of betrayal before looking at James and Peter. He is about to apologize to Sirius for spilling the secret he had promised to keep when he saw Peter is looking sullen while digging in his bag. Remus, misinterpreting Peter's sullen look, immediately is getting ready to defend Sirius to this rat of a friend when James starts laughing. Remus take a second to glance at James who is wiping away a tear and his hand out to Peter who is now handing James a galleon.
"I can't believe that worked." Peter grumbled
"It – was – unintentional." James said in between gasps of laughter. Once he had the galleon in his hand he wrapped his hands on the table and layed his head in his arms to keep laughing. Peter just glared at James some more.
"You mean, you got them to finally admit it, therefore winning the bet, by accident?" Peter asked, with the last word spoken between clenched teeth. "That is just your luck." Peter then looked across the table at Remus and Sirius to notice that their faces showed confusion along with hints of anger and fear in each of their faces, respectively. What got rid of the anger in his face towards Peter was the smile that Peter had on his face, looking at where their hands were hidden by their homework and table., holding onto each other for support. That's when the fear he saw on Sirius' face registered in Peter's head and he elbowed James and started trying to explain.
"We don't care that you guys are shagging. We just were sick of playing dumb. I mean, you guys haven't really been all that subtle." James said "And then it turned into a bet, which turned into a cover up prank idea." James then wrote a couple things on a piece of parchment and handed it to Remus. Remus gave James looked at the two of them with such a genuine smile that both Sirius and Remus relaxed completely.
"What about m- your parents, Prongs?" Sirius asked, looking at James. "I can't tell them, not yet."
"I won't tell them," James said, getting up to give Sirius a hug, "But they won't care and I will be there if you want support." As Sirius pulled out of the hug he smiled at James and pulled Remus' hand back into his own. James went and sat back in his chair, returning to his homework as Remus and Sirius both shyly turned to each other with smiles on their faces. Remus couldn't help but notice the glossy eyes that Sirius had, squeezing his hand in support once again he then noticed the flecks of red and then there was a shimmer around his irises. He looked over at James, whose hand, while on the table was pointed towards them. James made eye contact with Remus and nodded to the slip of parchment still sitting on the table in front of Remus. Remus looked down at it and opened to see James' messy scrawl with 4 lines written
We only have three emotions so far (blue and green are giving use trouble)
Love – red
Joy – yellow
Natural – content
Sirius looked at the note confused while Remus looked surprised and proud of James and Peter and exclaimed in excitement.
"You got it to work?"
~End~
Teaser/Epilogue:
James does the spell on Lily before getting on the train and entered the compartment with a goofy smile on his face. When they ask why he says,
"Guys, I'm so close with Lily, Next year will be my year." While Sirius and Remus give a bit of an exasperated eye roll, Peter asked,
"How do you know?"
"I did the spell on her. Her eyes were normal! She was calm and content." At everyone's doubtful looks he continued with a bit of desperation, trying to get them to understand. "Don't you get it? There was no anger there, not at me. She's warming up to me." They smile at his hope and determination and then ignore him and let him continue to fantasize about next year and his future with one Lily Evans.